Brett Anderson could look back on her early experiences with the Donnas with a jaundiced eye, and nobody could blame her. Sure, the ‘90s was when “the fun generation” flourished, as she characterizes it. But for girls and young women, its music landscape could be a viper pit.

“We never went to the bathroom, or anywhere, alone, ever, on tour,” the former “Donna A.” tells GRAMMY.com, while commuting home from her job as a social worker at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. “There was some understanding that bad things happen when you're alone.”

“And I hate to even Voldemort this into life,” Anderson says later — and goes on to recount a shocking article that salivated over the band members' bodies.

Yet Anderson betrays no bitterness: her love for the other three Donnas, and the music they made, permeates her words. Her head’s full of memories of recording their scrappy, precocious punk songs at a Bay Area Mail Boxes Etc.; some of them, like “High School Yum Yum,” “Let’s Rab!” and “Da Doo Ron Ron,” seem to spring from an interband, invented language.

Now, you can hear those tunes anew, via Early Singles 1995-1999, which dropped March 1. It’s a monument to the friendship between Anderson, guitarist Allison Robertson, bassist Maya Ford, and drummer Torry Castellano.

The band they formed as teenagers went on to be signed to a major label, rock the late-night circuit, perform on MTV and even appear in the 1999 teen comedy Jawbreaker. In 2012, after seven albums, the Donnas, unceremoniously and undramatically, “wrapped it up.”

For now, Anderson’s fixed on their beginnings, when anything seemed possible.

“When you're that age — or, really, any age — it's easy to be self-conscious, but I always really looked up to the other three girls and a hundred percent believed in them,” Anderson says. “When we were together, we definitely felt like a force to be reckoned with.”

This interview has been edited for clarity.

I’m very curious about your job as a social worker. But if you’re burned out after a long workday, you don’t have to talk about it.

I don’t think I'm going to be burned out for a couple of years, at least, because I'm on the palliative care team. And it's always been a passion of mine ever since I learned about it, because no one really understands it.

And I'm always attracted to things that are a little bit off the beaten path and not understood, and I want to explain it. So the idea just in general, that hospice and palliative care are not the same thing, if I could just address that, that would be a major victory.

Can you tell me the difference? I didn’t know that.

Yeah, I would love to. So hospice is end-of-life care, and you need a prognosis of six months or less to live. Palliative care is this much broader, much lesser known extra layer of care that people can get if they have any life-limiting illness.

So, anything chronic, anything that you could, not be dying from it, but you might need help with difficult decision-making or uncontrolled symptom management — things like that.

What spurred this life change?

I think part of it was how ageist the music industry is.

Wow, tell me more.

I think I just saw it all around me. People just complaining about feeling old and being out of touch and calling other people old and internalized and externalized ageism. And just so ridiculous, because I feel all -isms are bad.

And I feel that the reason that ageism is bad in particular, is that our age is one of the least informative details about us, because it's constantly changing.

From when we started, it was like we were working against something, so I was like, Oh man, why is it like this? And then I was like, Oh, right. I chose this. I identify as a person who's working against something, OK.

*Photo courtesy of the Donnas.*

I’m looking at a very early photo of the Donnas right now. Does it feel like you were reincarnated into a completely new life or something? Or are you super connected to that version of yourself?

I feel like even at the time, I wasn't super connected to it. I mean, especially with the Donnas, it was a persona, because we started the Donnas as a joke band — like a side band. And our real band was called the Electrocutes.

When we were doing the Donnas, it was a shtick — tongue in cheek. And I think some people didn't know that we were in on the joke, because we're too young and there was an older man who could have been a Svengali involved. They assumed that we didn't understand the context with which we were living.

Sounds pretty misogynistic to me.

It's crazy, yeah. It is actually really funny that you said, because I'm watching “Mad Men” for the first time, so it's getting me all riled up again about just the s— you have to do to get by in a world where the rules are not made for you. And I realized so clearly that I'm really only talking about one identity, and that's gender. But yeah, it was hard.

What do you remember about the emotional or psychological atmosphere back then, being as young as you were?

There’s one thing I did not remember until the drummer, Torry, and I just did this interview for some archive in Texas not too long ago. She always remembers things that I would never, ever remember, and it was such a huge part of our existence.

We never went to the bathroom, or anywhere, alone, ever, on tour.

Whoa. What was up with that?

I don't remember the specific incident or incidents that started that, but whatever it was, there was some understanding that bad things happen when you're alone — whether it was when we were on Warped Tour, or when we were just on tour.

And the smaller clubs didn't seem that bad, because you usually know those people. But when the clubs started getting bigger and it was more anonymous — yeah, you don't go anywhere alone.

Just out of general safety concerns?

I think it was multilevel. It was just your general safety. And then there's also the reality of the things that people said to us from when we were in middle school and high school. They would literally say, "Go home and play with your dolls, girls can't play rock and roll."

And I mean, we thought it was funny. We weren't personally wounded by it, but people will say things to you when you're alone that they won't say when you're with another person. Usually, sexual harassment doesn't happen on stage; it's backstage.

It was ‘93 when we started, so we were 13.

That’s really young.

Yeah, I know. And I mean, I hate to even Voldemort this into life, but there'd be articles that would say something like our "bouncing nubile breasts." And we're like, "F—." I wore two bras for a year after that — like, This is not what I want to be putting out there.

To drill into the Early Singles collection: what do you remember about these sessions? These are pretty scrappy recordings.

We were recording at Mail Boxes Etc. after hours. So we would just throw the equipment up on the counter. That was when we were doing the Donnas with [producer] Darin Raffaelli, and he worked there, so we could get in there after, at night. We would smell them baking donuts next door.

I'm still like this when it comes to creativity. I'm so much more creative at night when everyone else is asleep, because there's less external noise distracting you, and you're not missing anything; you can be in your own world. The whole world fell away when we were doing that. We were just us, in that Mail Boxes Etc.: in heaven.

What was your interband friendship like? Were you like a Beatles-style four-headed monster?

In a way. Actually, it's funny. I think about things like that a lot, and I haven't applied it to our band ever. But yeah, I mean, when you put four people in a vacuum, everything's relative, someone's the most like this and someone's the most like that.

I think as compared to other bands like the Spice Girls or things like that, where people have really defined identities, we didn't pigeonhole each other or ourselves as much, I don't think.

Despite the tongue-in-cheek, Ramonesy conceit — everybody has the same name, we’re a happy family — it sounds like you were all very serious about the band. It sounds like you were driven to do something substantial.

I think there are a lot of people who are dying to be famous and to make it. And those were never words that we used or feelings that we felt.

It wasn't that we wanted to be big and famous for no reason. We wanted to be as committed as possible to the band, so that we could go as far as we could with the band, because we believed in what we were doing.

The content was the driving force, the fact that we were with friends playing music that we loved. That was the important part, not the ultimate scope of the thing.

You believed in the songs and each other. Plain and simple.

Yeah, yeah.

Do any moments or tunes from this collection stick out in your memory?

Well, the first one that pops into my head is “I Don't Wanna Go to School No More.” Which is funny, because I think we all ended up going back to school, but it's different when you're older. It's a whole new game.

We had a couple of songs, “Let's Rab” and “Let's Go Mano!” They were made-up words, which I always love. Rab, it's so random, was what this one guy in school called this other guy in school. His name was Rob, but he called him Rab, and then we made it into slang for partying.

I’m just thinking about believing in the songs and in each other. When you're that age — or, really, any age — it's easy to be self-conscious, but I always really looked up to the other three girls and a hundred percent believed in them.

So, whenever I was self-conscious about myself, I was never self-conscious about our band. It was fun to walk into a new venue and be able to feel confident.

I just know that we were bringing something good, even if I sometimes doubted myself. And I think everyone may have doubted themselves too, in a singular way. When we were together, we definitely felt like a force to be reckoned with.

What was up with “I Wanna Be a Unabomber?”

That was from the before times. Every once in a while, I'll have a shame wave thinking about that. I mean, it was just a different world…

Personally, I love it. That’s the best title in the entire thing.

Well, that's the thing about humor, isn't it? It's like what's funny on a certain day in a certain context, it's horrifying in a different one. So, there you go; that was an extreme statement.

Any other anecdotes pop up?

Another amazing thing that we got to do was, when we were 16 — I think between junior and senior year of high school, or maybe it was between sophomore and junior, we got to go to Japan for a week and play five shows.

Wow, what was that like?

It was just beyond our wildest imaginations. It was 16-year olds in a band flying to Japan. There were people waiting at the airport when we got there. And we felt like what the Beatles would feel like, a little bit.

The clubs that we played at were so cool. One of them [was] four stories underground and just completely thick with smoke — and as a singer, that's horrible. But just as a memory, there's just nothing like it.

What do you remember about how these sessions — and your early success — flowed into the next stages of your career?

I think one thing we are really lucky about is that everything grew very gradually and incrementally. So, we never had that big spike. And I think often when someone does have a big spike, then they have a huge drop that's just as steep. And for us, it was like we just gradually grew and grew and grew.

And then, it made it nice on the other side, when we just gradually stopped saying yes to as many things and wrapped it up. But without having some big blowout, break up, farewell tour or anything.

While you were saying that, I was remembering seeing the Donnas open for the Hives at the Fillmore, in 2008. You played “Smoke You Out” and green lights came on.

Oh, I love that song so much. “Everybody’s Smoking Cheeba” — that’s another early one.

I mean, it does seem so quaint, and such a different time. Because now, I'm thinking about our photo shoot for the cover for [our self-titled 1997 debut] The Donnas.

I don't remember where we were, but we just went to some school with a camera and took some pictures and that was it. It was just so very simple. And also sometimes it felt like it was almost not real. We were like, "Oh, we're going to do a photo shoot, because we're a band and we're going to make a record." Because there was no one watching.

And I'm just so glad we got to grow and spend all this time learning our instruments and our positions without that critical eye so much. Because I don't know that any of us would've enjoyed it.

How would you compare the music industry when the Donnas began versus when they ended?

I don't want to sound negative, but I think it was amazing in the '90s.

I mean, all of MTV and Sub Pop and Kill Rock Stars and Maximum Rocknroll and Spin and Rolling Stone — there was just so much good content, and so many authentic bands that were actually independent and actually alternative. And it just felt so inspiring.

And then towards the end of it, social media was coming into it and you had to be creating content all the time. And for me, that blew the mystique on both sides as a band and as a fan. I do remember thinking when I first started listening to Sonic Youth imagining Thurston Moore having breakfast, and thinking about stuff like that was exciting, but I don't actually want to see that. I wanted it in my imagination. It was better in my imagination.

I realize that that probably ties me to a certain generation. But maybe you just like whatever's happening when you're in your teens and twenties better than when you're in your thirties. But I don't know, I'm not sure about the reasoning behind that.

But I feel like there was just a lot of room for growth and people could get into it, younger, smaller bands could. There was a place for people to enter the industry.

Are you still playing music?

I do things here and there. I don't pursue anything, but sometimes things will pop up. Like, “That ‘90s Show.” I did the theme song for that; James Iha's doing the music for the show. He had my number from when we were on Lollapalooza 20 years ago, and just neither of us changed our numbers.

It's just so cool when things happen like that, where it's like you plant this little seed two decades ago, and then it sprouts in 2023. So I'm always up for stuff like that.

I've been playing with some Irish bands in L.A., which has been really fun. There's a band called The Ne'er-Do-Wells that I've done stuff with. I had a couple of side projects. And I don't know, also still writing music on my own for nothing and no one, which is always fun.

That’s a nice counterweight to your professional life.

It's nice to be able to pursue another thing. When I first went back to school, I started studying psychology, and I finished my BA, which I started in 1997.

It took, what, twenty-something years? I just went to one semester in '97 before we went on the first tour, and then went back to school in 2012. And I finished my BA in 2019.

I can see how your music career blossomed into your love of helping human beings.

Oh, yeah. I think in the band, there was an element of helping people. After every show, when we would meet people, they would say, "I listen to your music to feel confident, and feel better about myself, too, as an example that girls can play rock and roll."

We had these two shows in Joshua Tree called Desert Moon at Pappy and Harriet's, and they were fan club shows. And after one of them, someone told me that they flew for the first time in their life to get to that show, so it was a motivating factor. Another one: someone told me that they listened to our music before they came out to their parents.

So it's the idea that music can be empowering and liberating and give people permission to feel a certain way, I feel is something very similar to what I do now.

I mean, social work is all about empowering people, and respecting their agency, and trying to figure out what motivates people — and to activate that, and advocate for that.

The Exploding Hearts' Terry Six Shares The Stories Behind Guitar Romantic

When Sabrina Carpenter announced her new album, Short n' Sweet, earlier this week, she also dangled a special treat in front of fans. "I also have a surprise coming for you on thursday night," she announced in an Instagram post, "so keep an eye out!!"

The surprise was a video for her new single, "Please Please Please," starring her boyfriend, Barry Keoghan. Directed by Bardia Zeinali, the clip is a high-octane rendering of Carpenter and Keoghan as a pair of bona fide outlaws, whose relationship rides a rollercoaster of criminality and incarceration.

The slinky track follows her viral hit "Espresso" from last spring — itself the lead single from Short n' Sweet. As the YouTube comments pour forth, flecked with adjectives like "obsessed" and "iconic," here's everything GRAMMY.com could dredge up about the forthcoming LP.

Short N' Sweet Will Be Released Aug. 23

Carpenter's been mum on many of the details of Short n' Sweet, but she did allow that the Jack Antonoff and Julian Bunetta-produced, 36-minute album willl be released Aug. 23.

"This project is quite special to me and i hope it'll be something special to you too," she wrote on said Instagram post; it's practically destined to soundtrack the dog days of summer as they fade to fall.

The Album Will Hop Between Genres

Speaking to Maya Hawke — who herself just released her third album, Chaos Angel — in Interview Magazine, Carpenter discussed the contents of her next offering.

"I feel a lot freer and more excited about what I'm making now because I've realized that genre isn't necessarily the most important thing. It's about honesty and authenticity and whatever you gravitate towards," she stated. "There were a lot of genres in my last album, and I like to think I'll continue that throughout writing music."

Read more: Sabrina Carpenter's Big Year: The Pop Songstress Gushes On The Eras Tour, Her Christmas EP & More

The Title Is A Reference To Her Height

Speaking to Cosmopolitan about her opening slot on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, Carpenter called performing those sets "a tall order."

"This is not even to sound like a pick-me, like when girls are like, 'I'm so small, I can't reach the top shelf' — I'm literally five feet tall," she said mirthfully. "So sometimes when I'm on that stage, it feels so huge that I just have to be larger than life in some capacity."

She's worked her height (or lack thereof) into the promotional machine behind Short n' Sweet: billboards the country over say things like, "When I say I hate short people, Sabrina Carpenter is NEVER included."

We Have The Album Cover

On the cover of Short n' Sweet, the sunkissed singer looks over her shoulder with a kiss mark on her shoulder, against a striking azure sky, her blonde hair hanging down.

The Eras Tour Harkened A New One

As mentioned, Carpenter got the opening gig of a lifetime — warming up the Eras Tour across America, Australia and Asia. Speaking with Cosmo, she revealed the tour wasn't an end to itself, but a launching pad to new adventures.

Read more: Behind The Scenes Of The Eras Tour: Taylor Swift's Opening Acts Unveil The Magic Of The Sensational Concert

"I'm starting to feel like I've outgrown the songs I'm singing [on The Eras Tour]," she explained, "which is always an exciting feeling because I think that means the next chapter is right around the corner." Behold: that chapter is now.

Everything We Know About Halsey's New Album: Listen To New Song "The End"

In 2018, Tems quit her corporate job to focus solely on what she calls her life's purpose: making music. And in the six years since, she's certainly proven that it's what she was born to do. 

The Nigerian artist's appeal was initially apparent in her home country after she released a string of singles in 2018 and 2019, but it quickly became clear that Tems was poised for global stardom. Just after the arrival of her debut EP, 2020's For Broken Ears, she teamed up with Wizkid for the Afrobeats smash "Essence," which showcased her signature ethereal melodies and introspective storytelling. She soon became a sought-after collaborator, being recruited for Drake's Certified Lover Boy, Beyoncé's Renaissance, and Future's I Never Liked You — the latter of which, a collaboration alongside Drake titled "Wait For U," won Tems her first GRAMMY in 2023.  

Along the way, Tems continued to shine as a star in her own right. After earning a record deal with RCA in 2021, she released her second EP, If Orange Was a Place, and notched hits on Billboard's Hot R&B Songs with "Free Mind" and "Not an Angel." And now, she's ready to continue her winning streak with her debut album, Born in the Wild.

There's a running theme that speaks to Tems' desire for success and meeting the moment across the album's 18 tracks, as evidenced by songs like "Wickedest," "Burning," "Ready," and the titular track. Elsewhere, "Me & U" speaks to inner peace and self-perception, while her latest single "Love Me JeJe" represents her Nigerian roots by interpolating Seyi Sodimu's 1997 hit of the same name. 

As a Lagos-born artist, Tems naturally leans into Afrobeats. But much like her previous EPs, Born in the Wild sees her melding a lot of genres like R&B and soul ("You in My Face") and even rap ("T-Unit"); she also welcomes a more stripped-down approach on standout tracks "Unfortunate" and "Boy O Boy." The album doesn't just show her versatility — it hints at an exciting career that's only getting started.

Ahead of Born in the Wild's release, Tems sat down with GRAMMY.com to discuss the inspiration behind her debut album, what she learned about herself during the creative process, and existing outside of the Afrobeats genre.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Debut albums set the tone for an artist's entire career. What do you want to convey with Born in the Wild?

As humans, we are multidimensional beings. Born in the Wild is about embracing all of oneself. Thinking about when I decided to go into music up until this point, I had to figure out the best way to tell that story of the Nigerian girl that became this person called Tems. And that person was born in the wilderness. Yes, I was born in Africa, but the wilderness is more about the difficulties that I faced mentally and the jump from working a 9 to 5 to trying to sing when nobody believes in you and everybody laughs at you.

Born in the Wild is about survival; I was born in a survival state and raised to survive. Coming from that to now being someone who has the ability to dominate, the ability to overcome and to conquer — that's the story. That's my story.

Born in the Wild speaks to success and taking advantage of every opportunity that is presented to you. It sounds like you're documenting your journey in real time. Can you speak more to that?

I'm someone who doesn't like attention. Like, I could be in my room making my music for months, and I would not even fathom sharing my music. I'm such an introvert like that. I love my alone time. I do everything I can to make sure I can just go back into my cave.

"Ready" is about the moment that I decided I will no longer hide, I will no longer be in my comfort zone, I will no longer be silent. I recognize that what I need to do is bigger than me. It's not about what I like or what's comfortable for me. It's what needs to be done, you know? I cannot make art and just be enjoying my own art like that. 

I'm willing to overcome myself so that I can be the person that I'm meant to be, and I'm ready now to face whatever difficulty, whatever obstacle comes my way. Even if it makes me cry, even if it makes me angry, even if it makes me sad, I'm ready. I'll do it crying. I'll do it angry. I'm going to continue going forward. That's a decision I've made, and I haven't turned back since.

Do you feel like you're still in survival mode, or are you slowly coming out of that and now being able to somewhat relish in the success you've had?

I don't think after survival comes relish. I think after survival comes learning and unlearning. I think now I'm in a place where I can actually thrive. I can flourish and grow and blossom more into the person that I'm meant to be. I can take things and I can receive love easier. I can understand things better, because I'm not too busy trying to survive that I forget to actually learn the lessons that are meant to help me overcome the things that come my way. Life is always gonna be life, but then you develop a different type of strength when you're not in survival mode.

When did you know Born in the Wild was going to be a full-length album and not another EP? In a 2023 interview, you said you weren't sure which way it was going to go amid some of those early recording sessions.

I don't know the particular moment; I just woke up and realized that the things I've been working on are all seemingly coming together. I definitely was more intricate with each of the songs, more critical of the songs. I had to remove myself from them as if I wasn't making them. That way, I could see them objectively for what they were. 

In terms of the process of actually creating the music, it has not changed. I still kind of approach it like, I'm going to make music today. I don't know what's gonna happen today, but I hope it's something great.

Was there anything about the creative process that surprised you?

I've changed a lot from the person that started writing, like from the earliest song that was written until now. I literally learned how to trust the process. I used to say that all the time, but in my mind, I was like, I trust the process, I guess. I don't know what that is, but cool. I tried to rush it, but it just doesn't work out when you do, no matter what. 

So, I just did my best showing up every single day, taking it step by step, day by day. And that will frustrate you, but then I started learning to observe myself in frustration, like, Wow, okay. Why is this happening? Just allowing yourself to be is also part of trusting the process.

As Afrobeats continues to reach new heights, how can consumers and the industry do better at supporting African artists so they don't feel pigeonholed or confined to solely Afrobeats?

Every artist has the power and ability to define themselves. Every artist is in charge of how they view themselves. Some people call me R&B, some people call me alternative, some people call me Afrobeats. When I'm making music, I am not thinking, Oh, because I released 'Free Mind,' all my songs must sound like "Free Mind" or Because I did "Try Me Now," I have to stay there. Otherwise, who is going to consume my music?

I just kind of do my thing, which I feel every artist should do as well. They should go hard and stand for themselves, and define who they are for themselves, because the world can't define who you are in any sector. Nobody outside of you can define you. You define yourself, and the world acts accordingly. They respond to your definition.

What did winning your first GRAMMY in 2023 mean to you? And what do you hope that 2024 unlocks for you?

Winning a GRAMMY for me feels like, Wow, I'm being seen. I feel seen, and I feel acknowledged. I also feel hopeful for other African artists.

For 2024, I want to do my very best to present my art in the best way possible as I see the vision in my head. I'm not really thinking about what's gonna come from that, but I just know I want to really do something different with Born in the Wild. I'm really focused on doing that and having fun while I do that. It's gonna be incredible. I can't wait.

With Her Debut Album, Tyla Is Ready To Make Her Official Introduction: "It's Me In Music Form"

We're still a couple of weeks away from the summer solstice, but the smell of cookouts and chlorine is already in the air. As parts of the country experience summer weather, there's plenty of musical delights ready to soundtrack the start of summer.

From pop to alt-country to rap, this New Music Friday sprouted sounds for listeners of all persuasions. Here's a cross-section of today's songs and albums to check out, from Peggy Gou's debut album to the latest single from Jungkook.

Just a few weeks before Meghan Trainor's breakthrough smash, "All About That Bass," turns 10, the GRAMMY winner rings in the anniversary in major fashion: a brand new album.

Trainor's sixth LP, Timeless, an irresistible split difference between bubblegum pop and woo-wop. Back in March, she released the lead single "Been Like This" with T-Pain; the "Buy U a Drank" star also appears on "Love on Hold."

"I cannot believe it has been 10 years since this all started. I have never been more grateful for this life that my incredible Megatronz have gifted me with," Trainor said in a statement — "Megatronz" referring to her rabid fanbase. "This new album and tour are all for them and my beautiful family."

I Hear You might be South Korean DJ and singer Peggy Gou's debut album, but she declares it to be much more than that.

"It embodies countless hours of dedication in my journey to create something timeless, and is a testament to the power of listening, to ourselves and to each other," Gou said in a statement. 

And of the video to "1+1=11," in all of its shadowplay: "By bringing together dance — embodied exploration of space — with colorful shadows, lights, and mirrors, I was able to bring some of the key interests that have long shaped my art into an entirely new context."

If all this resonates with you, I Hear You is — well, a must-hear.

Listen: Leap Into AAPI Month 2024 With A Playlist Featuring Laufey, Diljit Dosanjh, & Peggy Gou

As Pride Month kicked off, Kylie Minogue brought out two very special guests at Outloud Fest at West Hollywood Pride: her newest collaborators, Orville Peck and Diplo. The trio debuted the slinky, sparkling "Midnight Ride," a winning trifecta of their diverse talent pools.

Just a few days later, the studio version has arrived. In its full-fledged wonder, the track is just as much of a ride on record as it was on stage.

The single is the latest offering from Peck's forthcoming duets album, Stampede; though the full album's release date has yet to be announced, the alt-country star teased the exciting collabs to come with the seven-song Stampede, Vol. 1 on May 10, which featured Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Nathaniel Rateliff and more.

On July 19, English indie favorites Glass Animals will declare I Love You So F***ing Much with their fourth album. They previously released the advance single "Creatures in Heaven." "A Tear in Space (Airlock)" arrives from smack in the middle of the forthcoming album.

A celestial, pulsing track replete with delicious production details, "A Tear in Space (Airlock)" marks another evolutionary step for the Oxford-rooted group. Their smash "Heat Waves" might be in the rearview, but they still know how to craft a song for just that.

Read More: Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Glass Animals' Dave Bayley On The Group's Slow Burn To Massive Success With "Heat Waves" — And How It Almost Never Happened

Where would BTS be without its ARMY? It's an unthinkable prospect — and the boy band giants' beloved Jungkook has penned a worthy tribute to the fanbase that made them.

Released for BTS' annual debut anniversary celebration, Festa, "Never Let Go" opens its heart completely. "Without your love, I'm nothing/ You mean more than you know/ And words escape me whenever you're close," he croons. "I tried to put it into words but it don't measure up/ My pen and paper could never do quite enough."

Believe us: the radiant "Never Let Go" is more than enough. "It's the truth, it's the truth," Jungkook concludes. "We got something rеal nothing could break."

Learn more: Breaking Down Every Solo Act From BTS: Singles, Debut Albums & What's Next For The Septet

The Haitian-Canadian producer, rapper, singer, and DJ born Louis Celestin has produced everyone from Anderson .Paak to Alicia Keys to Victoria Monét, but he's just as compelling when it's his name on the record sleeve.

The two-time GRAMMY winner proves just that with his third album, TIMELESS. Of course, the producer recruited several collaborators for the project, and the list is a panoply of associates from across his career — not only .Paak, but Childish Gambino, Don Toliver, and more.

"A full production between two Colombian artists had never been done before," rapper and singer Maluma brassily proclaimed in a recent press statement. "If it's the first, it can't be done twice."

He's referring to the (aptly titled) 1 of 1, his new EP with fellow Colombian great Blessd. Co-produced by MadMuscik and the RudeBoyz, this six-pack is a reflection of the clear admiration and respect between the two reggaetón practitioners.

This pre-summer weekend, grab a bestie, hit the road, crank up tunes like "Call Me" and "Goyard/GTA," and let that feeling flow through you, too.

Five years after his last LP, Floridan rap phenom Ski Mask the Slump God returns by taking listeners to the 11th Dimension.

If 11th Dimension's advance singles — the jovial "Ooga Booga!", the propulsive "Headrush" — whetted your thirst, get ready for the other 19 tracks, like head-spinning highlights "By Myself," "KillStreak" and "Him Jung Un."

And while Ski Mask the Slump God takes most of those tracks himself, the album's five features are equally as thrilling: Future and ATL Jacob, Skillibeng, Corbin, and two posthumous duets with late rap stars XXXTentacion and Juice Wrld.

Generally, when an artist has a blast making music, it seeps through the grooves — and Thomas Rhett had an absolute ball making his new album, About A Woman, out Aug. 23.

"I did this with a new batch of producers, a lot of different songwriters. This is the funnest album that I've made, I think," he told Backstage Country. "This is a very, very 'me' album. If you liked Tangled Up and Life Changes, Center Point Road, this album is sort of that on steroids."

He's already revealed the first single, "Beautiful as You"; its follow-up, "Gone Country," is a rough-hewn statement of down-home purpose. Every line and lick is true to his dictum that he "got back to the root of why I love to make music and put smiles on faces." 

Let that smile cross your face as you prepare for your summer adventures — and we'll see you on next week's New Music Friday!

On This Day In Music: 2 Live Crew's 'As Nasty As They Wanna Be' Becomes First Album Declared Legally Obscene, Anticipates First Amendment Cases

In the canon of West Coast hip-hop, Warren G’s debut album, Regulate: The G-Funk Era is considered one of the greatest.

Released on June 7, 1994, the album remains a perfect snapshot of the g-funk era, the popular subgenre of gangsta rap that was all the rage in the early- to mid '90s. "I created the genre, but I was introduced to it by Above the Law," Warren G tells GRAMMY.com. 

Headlining that album is of course, Warren G and Nate Dogg’s iconic track "Regulate," tapping that four-bar sample from Doobie Brother Michael McDonald’s "I Keep on Forgettin’." But the album features a number of other hits including "This D.J." and "So Many Ways," a remix version later appearing on the Bad Boys soundtrack.  

"Regulate" the single first arrived on the star-studded soundtrack for Above the Rim, released via Death Row Records in the spring of 1994, and sold over 2 million domestic copies in the year of its release. Then a few months later, Warren reintroduced "Regulate" on his inaugural album. The 12-track Regulate: The G-Funk Era provided a full vision of The Regulator's uber smooth brand of g-funk which rang out from the 213 all around the world.  

Thanks to pioneers like Above the Law, Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, and Warren G, g-funk (or gangsta funk) became the definitive sound of West Coast hip-hop. Regulate: The G-Funk Era was so impactful that it was even nominated for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group at the 1995 GRAMMYs.

Like Dre's The Chronic, many continue to be drawn to Regulate’s depiction of Southern California life, replete with endless sunshine and maxed-out cars blasting pioneer speakers. Regulate is also the story of Warren G, a personal album which gives love to the community and people he came up with ("I played ball through the halls of CIS / With Snoop Dogg's big brother, call him Dirty Left," he raps on "This D.J.", referencing College Intermediate School in Long Beach ).

With Regulate, self-described "outlaw" Warren G made a platform for himself and some of his disciples. Album features the Twinz, an LBC duo consisting of twin brothers Deon and Dewayne Williams, and the Dove Shack, whose summer anthem "This is the Shack" (later reprised on the group’s own album with the same title a year later),  took the West Coast hip-hop world by storm. Though the great crooner Nate Dogg died more than a decade ago, 213, the Long Beach collective of Warren G, Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg lives on. Warren and Snoop just released the single "Cali 2 Canada," in advance of an upcoming tour. 

Regulate was Warren G's first release after effectively being exiled from Death Row Records, where his halfbrother and mentor Dr. Dre, not to mention Long Beach pals Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg thrived. Warren signed with Def Jam Records in 1994,  and his debut release helped save the label from serious debt: Regulate: The G-Funk Era sold 3 million copies in the U.S. and debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 albums chart.  

As we look back on 30 years since Regulate the G-Funk Era, GRAMMY.com connected with Warren G himself to look back on five ways the album paved the way for west coast hip-hop today.  

It Solidified Long Beach As A Hip-Hop Mecca 

Warren G isn’t the first Long Beach rapper who made waves during this era. There’s Snoop, of course, as well as Missouri-born, Long-Beach raised Domino. But Regulate: The G-Funk  Era feels like a whole album about place, giving love to the LBC on every track with people and places like 21 and Lewis, King’s Park, the Voltron Crew, and Cal State Long Beach as Warren shouts them out on tracks like "Regulate" and "This D.J."

Warren acknowledges that there were the realities of the streets, but also plenty of fun to be had growing up, too, including listening to old records for hours together with his father. "Coming up in Long Beach was fun. We had a lot of sports. Lot of neighborhood activities as far as King’s Park," Warren G tells GRAMMY.com. "It was fun. It was dangerous. It was cool. It was my home."

Voltron Crew is Warren’s group of friends he used to sell candy with while having rap battles. Warren impressed the crew by rapping the lyrics to some of Dre's yet-to-be-released material, including "Cabbage Patch." "'Damn Warren, you’re harder than a motherf—a,'" he recalled his friends saying with a laugh.

And then there’s Warren’s beloved VIP Records on Pacific Coast Highway which Warren calls an LBC "landmark." He and his friends would walk down there after school to listen to music as one DJ after another queued up inside of the institution to spin. "It was just fun for us to be able to see that and listen to good music at the same time," Warren adds.

It Made Nate Dogg A Star 

The late great Nate Dogg was already on the rise on the West Coast with early vocals on Dre’s "Deeez Nuuuts," Mista Grimm ft. Warren G’s "Indo Smoke," and Snoop’s "Ain’t No Fun." But the titular track "Regulate" made him soar. While Nate is given a featured credit, he’s lockstep with Warren during the entire song, matching Warren’s lyricism with his own hybrid style of singing and rapping that had never been seen in hip-hop before and hasn’t been seen since. 

Back in those days, hip-hop often didn’t really promote its hookmen and women — much less feature them prominently in their music videos. (Consider Nate’s Bay Area contemporary Mike Marshall, who sings the hook on Luniz’s classic "I Got 5 On It," but unfortunately isn’t remembered beyond West Coast hip-hop diehards.) But Nate made himself seen and heard on "Regulate."

It’s no coincidence he went on to become the go-to hook singer in California and beyond, working with everyone from Tupac and Ludacris, to French hip-hop group Psy 4 de la Rime. Nate Dogg passed away in 2011 at age 41.

It Presented A Different Version Of West Coast Gangsta Rap 

When compared to some of his contemporaries, Regulate: The G-Funk Era focused less on hardcore themes in favor of keeping things light and smooth. Even "Regulate" itself — which is about Nate and Warren dealing with a carjacking on a cool and clear California night — the Mississippi-born crooner who grew up in a Gospel choir always had a way of keeping things mellow. 

Regulate: The G-Funk Era also speaks to the turbulent climate of ‘90s inner-city Los Angeles. While Dre’s The Chronic might be more overt about it, Warren goes there too on songs like on the album’s third single, "Do You See,"  whose beat mashes up Mtume’s "Juicy Fruit" and Junior’s "Mama Used to Say." Much of that song, Warren G says, is personal.

"I just talked about everything I was going through, ya know, Snoop being in jail," he recounts. "Mista Grimm is my dog. But he was doing things that just wasn’t cool…But I forgave him for all of that still. Even though I talked about it in the song. I forgave him 'cause that was my dog. He’s still my dog."  

"Do You See" speaks about realities beyond the LBC, too. It opens with a sample from Gil Scott-Heron’s 1976 fiery spoken word piece  "Bicentennial Blues": "The blues has always been totally American… as American as apple pie… the question is why?...Well, America provided the atmosphere."

"I had listened to that particular [song] and everything he said was what I was going through. It blew me away," Warren says. 

It Introduced Us The Dove Shack, Twinz & Jah Skillz 

After not being able to get footing in Death Row, Warren G struck out on his own. He built his own roster of lesser-known talent on G-Funk Music, under the parent label Def Jam Recordings, and brought in Dove Shack (C-Knight, Bo-Roc and 2Scoops), the Twinz, and Jah Skillz, part of the larger female group Da 5 Footaz —who all got the G-Child cosign. Each artist debuted on Regulate: The g-funk Era, with summertime anthem "This is The Shack," an album standout.

Many of Warren G's guest features went on to have their own careers. Dove Shack member C-Knight recently passed away and Bo-Roc, a crooner in his own right, went on to work with other West Coast legends like Richie Rich, Daz Dillinger, and Foesum. Twinz, meanwhile, turned bass-heavy feature "Recognize" into the full-fledged Conversation in 1995, a g-funk album that gave us one of Warren G’s greatest beats, "Journey Wit Me," featuring Bo-Roc. 

As for Jah Skillz, she’s front and center for the entirety of "Super Soul Sis," and wastes not a single word. Da 5 Footaz went on to appear on the Jason’s Lyric and Set It Off soundtracks. 

It Gave G-funk Its Timeless Credo 

A few people are credited for launching g-funk, but Warren G’s timeless credo: "g-funk, where rhythm is life and life is rhythm," in the waning moments of "Regulate" and "And Ya Don’t Stop"  remains a classic to this day.

On his 1997 sophomore album Take a Look Over Your Shoulder and 1999's I Want It All, Warren G always shouted out gangsta funk. He also stayed true to the sound that spread west coast hip-hop worldwide: By 2001, a couple of years after the g-funk era fully ended, Warren defiantly proclaimed that "g-funk is Here to Stay" on Return of the Regulator.  

In 2015, he even put out an EP, Regulate... G-Funk Era, Part II, featuring unreleased music with his longtime partner Nate. From 1994 through 2024, Warren has consistently carried the flag of g-funk, the original west coast sound that he helped cement with Regulate The g-funk Era, 30 years ago.

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